Ending With Caesar Victorious And Pompey example essay topic

Julius Caesar Probably one of the most influential figures in Roman history, Caesar was also probably one of their better generals. He was especially well known for how much his troops liked him, mostly because he gave them larger shares of whatever they plundered. As a result, he could get his army to stick with him, no matter what the situation, even if what they were doing was against Roman law, like when he ordered his troops to cross the Rubicon, the point which no general was allowed to take his armies past. Because of this, he was able to keep pursuing Vercingetorix through Gaul, even when food became very scarce. This lead to his conquest of Gaul, one of the largest areas of the Roman area, which today is called France. When the Republic collapsed, he became one of the members of the ruling Triumvirate, along with Crassus and Pompey.

Eventually, after Crassus was killed, Caesar took out Pompey and appointed himself dictator for life. Crassus Crassus may have been one of the three most powerful men in Rome during the years of transition between the Republic and the Empire, but when it came to military matters, he was a fish out of water. More of a politician than a military leader, his one main campaign was marked by incredible stupidity and total defeat, as well as Crassus' death. He ignored offers of help from other Romans, trusted dubious sources of information, did not truly understand his enemies, and was caught unprepared and lost many of his men in a single battle. Pompey Born on Sept. 29 106 BC as Gna seus Pompei us, Pompey the Great already had an advantage over most Romans; his father was a respected consul.

Pompey went into Military service early on, and proved himself to be a competent leader and talented strategist. During the civil war between Gaius Marius and Lucius Sulla, Pompey allied himself with Sulla's forces, and utilizing new and creative strategies was able to crush many of Marius's men in Sicily and Africa. Later in his career he did work in Spain, which impressed men in Rome so much as to have Pompey elected consul in the year 70 BC at the young age of 36. Once Pompey left his consulship he went back to work for the military. Taking control of a wing of the Navy, he cleared the Mediterranean Sea of the roving bands of pirates that had plagued Roman merchants.

During his sea conquests he made new treaties and alliances with neighboring kingdoms that had a stake in the Sea. His working the Mediterranean allowed trade to flow freely, and allowed Rome's Navy to slowly gain a stronger and stronger grip on many trade routes between European kingdoms. This is very important, because it provided a huge income for Rome by ways of tariffs and taxes. After securing the seas, Pompey moved into land again, successfully taking Jerusalem and Syria for Rome. The importance of acquiring Jerusalem beyond money and expansion is obvious today.

Pompey returned to Rome as a seasoned and respected commander. It was on this return that his greatest honor was bestowed upon him; Pompey was placed with Caesar and Crassus to form the first great triumvirate. Things went smoothly between the men in the triumvirate, in the beginning, in fact Pompey married Julia, Ceaser's daughter. But this peace fell apart as time went on; Crassus died, as did Julia and Caesar began amassing his power. Caesar moved on to Gaul, and Pompey stayed in Rome. While in Gaul Caesar gained great power and ties with soldiers and the people, and by generating these ties Caesar had the loyalty base needed for his revolution.

During 50 BC, Caesar began moving his army closer and closer to Rome. Understandably worried, the Senate (and Pompey) ordered Caesar to disband his army. Caesar refused. Then, in January 49 BC, Caesar marched into Rome and started the greatest Roman civil war. The war was short and violent, ending with Caesar victorious and Pompey running to Egypt. While there Pompey attempted to regroup and try to dethrone Caesar, but was instead assassinated by the very man he was seeking alliance with, a powerful leader named Ptolemy.

Scipio During Ceaser's war for power, Pompey did have allies to help stop Caesar. One of the more prominent allies of Pompey was Metellus Scipio, a powerful politician who had great influence with the army in the vicinity of Rome. Born to Publius Scipio Nasi ca, he was later adopted by Quintus Metellus Pius, a Roman leader. During his tenure in Rome, he was one of the first people to realize the danger that Caesar posed. Scipio was the first to speak out against the possible danger of Ceaser's army in Gaul, and the first to demand Caesar to disband his soldiers.

Caesar refused, and Scipio called for Caesar to be deemed a traitor and an "enemy of the people". Scipio's resistance to Caesar impressed many of the Senate and in 49 BC, right at the beginning of the civil war, Scipio was given the title of Ruler of Syria. As the civil war grew in intensity, Scipio kept his attitude of Caesar, and joined forces with Pompey. The fight was a futile one, though. Caesar was able to push Pompey and Scipio farther and farther South, into Sicily and eventually over the Mediterranean Sea. The civil war was brutal, and Pompey was defeated by Caesar at Pharsalus.

Scipio took over Pompey's forces after that, but was quickly taken by Ceaser's superior military. Escaping to Africa, Scipio fled after his defeat. The circumstances of his death aren't known, but suicide is a possibility.